Pet Detectives Capture Iditarod Dog on the Lam in East King Co. for 6 Weeks

Iditarod rookie Silvia Furtwangler walked the Chester Creek Trail greenbelt Saturday, waving her iPhone in the air. The tinny speakers blared a recording of the German musher’s dog team howling and barking.

Still, Whistler didn’t come. The runaway sled dog, one of Furtwangler’s young leaders, had escaped her dog truck early Thursday morning in Anchorage. Spotted in the following days, trotting among the snowy trees bordering downtown, he had shown little interest in climbing back into a kennel.

Maybe it was the sled dog’s marathon car ride from Norway to Frankfurt, followed by the marathon flight from Frankfurt to Seattle to Anchorage, mused Furtwangler, whose English is still a work in progress.

"It’s a long, long way. And definitely, I’m sure he was a little bit (upset) to go again in the dog boxes," she said.

Whistler didn’t come when Gwen Truax of Anchorage, a Facebook friend of the musher, shouted into the woods with her best German accent. "Kommen sie, Whistler! Kommen sie!"

He didn’t come when other volunteers tried to bait him with moose steaks and bacon south of Fairview, where Whistler was spotted over the weekend. Furtwangler began to wonder if she’d have to race with 15 dogs. "Some people say, ‘It’s just a dog,’ " she said. "But it’s my babies, you know."

A 2003 Yukon Quest competitor who finished that 1,000-mile race with a team of shelter dogs, Furtwangler, a German, lives in Norway. She didn’t learn of Whistler’s disappearance until the end of the long drive to Willow, where she is training for the race.

Whistler must have pushed through a screen on the dog box of a borrowed truck, she said.

PLEA FOR HELP ON FACEBOOK

Furtwangler drove back to Anchorage while another of her Alaska Facebook friends, Tracey Mendenhall of Delta Junction, created a Facebook page dedicated to finding the distinctive, spotted dog. Within 24 hours, it bubbled with news of tips and sightings.

Kevin Degler, who lives in the area where Whistler was eventually captured, first saw the dog wandering near the Ship Creek boat ramp. "He was on a mission. He was looking south, he was wanting to get across those railroad trucks." A day later, Degler spotted Whistler near his Orca Place home. "That’s the dog from Facebook," his girlfriend said.

"I got within 30 feet of him with some bacon," Degler said. "He wanted that bacon, but he didn’t trust me."

For two days, Furtwangler searched the greenbelt, hoping the iPhone serenade of Whistler’s litter-mates and teammates’ barking would convince the dog to stay put.

"I think that was the only chance … so that he hear, ‘OK, the pack is here,’ " she said.

On Monday, the musher’s luck changed. Danny Parish, director of supported employment for the Arc of Anchorage, had seen Whistler in the non-profit’s parking lot west of Bragaw. The dog looked cold and hungry, he thought. Probably a stray.

Meantime, Charlene Oliver, who manages an espresso stand at the agency, had heard about the runaway sled dog on the news. Small, sly-eyed and mottled, Whistler is unmistakable.

"When I saw his eyes, I knew instantly that’s what it was (Whistler)," Oliver said.

She gave the dog a bit of brownie, then lured him into the garage with a co-worker’s roast beef. By the time Furtwangler arrived, Whistler was waiting in the back of Oliver’s Suburban.

Furtwangler studied the dog’s legs and patted his shoulder as Whistler’s eyes darted from person to person in the expanding crowd. He looked scared, the musher said. Whistler is a country dog.

"We live really outside, in the wilderness. We have no roads, nothing, and then we traveled all the way from Norway to here," she said. "I think it was a little bit, kind of (a) shock for the dogs."

Iditarod dogs bolt from their mushers seemingly every year — often during the race, but sometimes before, when teams arrive in Anchorage and skittish huskies, unfamiliar with the city, disappear into neighborhoods. Lance Mackey temporarily lost a leader named Girlfriend in Spenard in 2010, the year of his fourth-straight Iditarod championship.

Furtwangler likely has more modest plans. She placed 16th out of 18 mushers in her sole Yukon Quest. This is her first attempt at the Iditarod, though some of her dogs come from familiar stock.

Named for the ski town in British Columbia, Whistler is the son of an Anchorage shelter dog named Sharkey. Furtwangler acquired Sharkey from Paxson musher John Schandelmeier, she said, and the pair are both on her 16-dog Iditarod lineup.

She plans to return Whistler to the team as early as today, with the race’s ceremonial start less than three weeks away in Anchorage.

Save a Life…Adopt Just One More…Pet!

Everyday we read or hear another story about pets and other animals being abandoned in record numbers while at the same time we regularly hear about crazy new rules and laws being passed limiting the amount of pets that people may have, even down to one or two… or worse yet, none.

Nobody is promoting hoarding pets or animals, but at a time when there are more pets and animals of all types being abandoned or being taken to shelters already bursting at the seams, there is nothing crazier than legislating away the ability of willing adoptive families to take in just one more pet!!

Our goal is to raise awareness and help find homes for all pets and animals that need one by helping to match them with loving families and positive situations. Our goal is also to help fight the trend of unfavorable legislation and rules in an attempt to stop unnecessary Euthenization!!

“All over the world, major universities are researching the therapeutic value of pets in our society and the number of hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and mental institutions which are employing full-time pet therapists and animals is increasing daily.” ~ Betty White, American Actress, Animal Activist, and Author of Pet Love

There is always room for Just One More Pet. So if you have room in your home and room in your heart… Adopt Just One More! If you live in an area that promotes unreasonable limitations on pets… fight the good fight and help change the rules and legislation…

Save the Life of Just One More…Animal!

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Great Book for Children and Pet Lovers… And a Perfect Holiday Gift

One More Pet
Emily loves animals so much that she can’t resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to “feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams.” The farmer is so grateful for Emily’s help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily’s collection of pets get bigger and bigger.

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A recent national survey revealed just how much Americans love their companion animals. When respondents were asked whether they’d like to spend life stranded on a deserted island with either their spouse or their pet, over 60% said they would prefer their dog or cat for companionship!